Edit Income & Benefits

Give each recurring source its own timing and tax identity

Income & Benefits is for wages, pensions, bridge benefits, disability or survivor payments, deferred compensation, severance schedules, and other recurring amounts. Separate sources when their owner, tax treatment, start, end, or growth differs. A one-time gift or inheritance belongs in One-time Incoming Transfers instead.

Enter the gross annual amount unless the source document defines a tax-free benefit. Projection applies supported taxes and then uses the remaining household cash to fund spending and contributions.

Enter the amount that belongs at the modeled start

For income already being received, enter the current annual amount and choose Now or the applicable start date. For a future pension or benefit, enter the annual amount expected at its start date. Growth applies after the modeled start, not during the wait for a future benefit. If a future benefit estimate is in today’s dollars, first convert it to the expected start-date amount; use Annual growth rate for increases after payments begin.

Owner controls whose retirement, Social Security, or Medicare milestone can trigger the stream. Provider or source is a descriptive reference that helps distinguish similar benefits; it does not change the calculation.

Use Disability benefit for SSDI, SSI, or a private disability payment when the source and tax treatment are known. Use Other benefit for received alimony or spousal support and other recurring receipts that do not have a narrower type. For a taxable one-time receipt such as lottery or gambling winnings, use Other benefit, enter the gross annual amount, keep Taxable on, and use January 1 through December 31 of that year as the start and end dates so the full annual amount is included. That annual approximation does not calculate withholding, gambling-loss deductions, or specialized reporting.

Use the end rule that matches the benefit contract

An ongoing income stream continues only while its owner is modeled as alive. It does not automatically transfer to a surviving spouse. A specified date can end it sooner. Retirement, Social Security, and Medicare end rules use the selected owner’s saved milestone. These rules are especially important for temporary supplements and bridge payments.

Blank Annual growth rate uses plan inflation. Zero keeps the amount fixed in nominal dollars. A custom percentage applies that annual growth. Turn ordinary-income taxation off only when the actual benefit is tax-free under its governing plan or policy.

Trace the stream through its first and last projection years

After saving, open Projection and inspect the years before the start, during payment, and after the end. Confirm the owner, gross amount, tax effect, and cash-flow destination. If the result does not match the source statement, correct the stream rather than adding an offsetting expense.

Social Security entered above the other income sources is modeled separately. Do not add the same Social Security benefit again as a general income stream.

Model a pension survivor payment explicitly

A Pension or Defined benefit entry stops after the owner’s modeled final living year. Selecting Ongoing does not create a joint-and-survivor pension election. Enter the pension amount for the election you are considering, including any reduction while both people are alive.

To approximate later survivor payments, add a separate Survivor benefit owned by the recipient, with the expected annual amount, growth, tax treatment, and an explicit start date after the pension owner’s modeled final living year. Review both streams in Projection to prevent a missing payment or overlap. If the owner’s lifespan changes, revise that date too; this start is not linked automatically to the other person’s death.

Social Security has separate modeled survivor rules. An annuity with insurer-quoted covered lives and survivor terms belongs in Annuities & CDs; do not add another income stream for those same payments. The ordinary pension approximation does not determine eligibility or reproduce every election and transition rule.

Enter each person’s Social Security amount and claiming date

Use the Social Security fields at the start of Income & Benefits for each household member. Enter the monthly amount from that person’s own earnings record at full retirement age, the intended claiming date, and the input status. Keep both people’s records separate even when claiming is coordinated.

A saved Social Security start date takes precedence over the claiming-age assumption for payment timing. The first year includes only the calendar days from that date through year end, including leap years. The extra spouse benefit waits for both planned claim dates; an own-worker benefit can begin earlier. If no start date is saved, the projection uses annual age-based timing.

Social Security input status distinguishes Unknown, Estimate and Confirmed input. Confirmed zero means no own-worker benefit is expected; it does not remove any separately modeled spouse benefit. Keep an unknown amount as a visible placeholder, or enter a useful estimate. Changing the amount returns a reviewed status to Estimate so you can confirm the new source explicitly. Saved status is evidence of your input review, not a guarantee about future benefits.

Clearing the optional Social Security start date removes that date from the saved plan. The projection then uses the person’s saved claiming-age assumption. Reopen Income & Benefits after saving to confirm the date is blank and review the resulting benefit start in Projection.

Review own, spouse, and survivor benefits separately

The saved birth date determines Social Security full retirement age. A January 1 birthday uses the previous birth year under SSA rules.

For a spouse with an own benefit, YARCalc reduces that benefit and the extra spouse benefit separately. The extra amount begins only after both worker claims have started, so a later spouse benefit does not undo an early reduction in the own benefit.

Survivor benefits begin in the first annual period after the modeled death year, or at the earliest supported survivor age if later. When the deceased worker claimed early, the worker limit caps the survivor amount after its age reduction. A worker who died before claiming is not treated as having claimed early. Eligibility exceptions and exact monthly timing still require review with SSA.

Should I enter a spousal benefit in the FRA monthly benefit field?

Do not enter a spousal benefit in Social Security monthly benefit. In Income & Benefits, that field is each person's own worker benefit from their earnings record at full retirement age. Enter your own FRA monthly estimate for you and your spouse's own FRA monthly estimate for your spouse. Do not add a spousal amount or substitute half of the other person's benefit. FRA means full retirement age.

If your spouse has no benefit on their own work record, enter $0 for their FRA monthly benefit and still enter their planned Social Security start date. If "does not qualify yet" means they are too young to claim or have not started benefits, use their expected own-worker FRA estimate rather than automatically entering zero. If they are still earning the work credits needed to qualify, confirm the future estimate and eligibility with SSA; YARCalc does not calculate work credits.

YARCalc calculates the spousal addition automatically from both people's own FRA estimates and planned start dates. Under the supported rule, the unreduced spousal addition is the positive difference between half of the other worker's FRA benefit and the recipient's own FRA benefit. The model applies early-claiming adjustments and waits until both planned benefit starts have been reached; a zero own-worker estimate can still produce a modeled spousal benefit.

After saving, review the Social Security income in Projection around both start dates. A claiming-age sweep is useful when comparing when to claim, but it is not needed to decide what belongs in this field. The annual model does not establish actual eligibility or reproduce every SSA exception. Confirm uncertain eligibility with SSA.